President Donald Trump proposed drastic cuts to fuel efficiency standards for US vehicles, in another salvo against electric cars set to benefit the auto and oil industries.

Requirements introduced by his predecessor Joe Biden to reduce emissions from gasoline-powered cars and trucks were “ridiculously burdensome” and gave “all sorts of problems to automakers”, Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday with Ford chief executive Jim Farley and his Stellantis counterpart Antonio Filosa in attendance.

Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement that under the new proposal set out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fleet average fuel economy targets would be reduced to 34.5 miles to the gallon by 2031, from a Biden-era target of 50.4 mpg over the same period.